By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Jazz and Other Four Letter Words
Los Angeles-born
singer/songwriter Mark Winkler has performed and recorded since the mid 1980s. He’s
another hip vocalist in the style of Dave Frishberg, Mose Allison, Michael
Franks and Bobby Troup, although Winkler’s delivery is a bit more smooth. He
has written charts for others — such as Liza Minnelli and Randy Crawford — but is
best known for performing his own material. He’s also a crossover
artist, in that he does a lot of pop music and has even written a Broadway
show.
His recording output
was limited for awhile, with only half a dozen albums until the new century.
Since then, he has been much busier.
Winkler always
surrounds himself with talent. The backup musicians on this release include pianist
Jamieson Trotter, guitarists Larry Koonse and Pat Kelley, bassists John Clayton
and Dan Lutz, drummers Jeff Hamilton and Mike Shapiro, and instrumentalists Bob
McChesney and Walt Fowler.
Winkler also does a
couple of duets with Cheryl Bentyne, of Manhattan Transfer fame.
The menu includes
tunes by Frishberg, the Gershwins, Paul Simon and Richard Rogers, along with
some originals. Everything is appealing, and — more importantly — everything
swings.
Winkler is an
excellent vocalist, and his voice is smooth as silk. Give him a try.
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